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Jane and John Dough Bakery: In Support of Local Community and Real Pie.

An artisan bakery in Old Town Tomball where baked goods are made from scratch and meals are shared in a communal setting. Jane and John Dough Bakery brings tradition, comfort and good pie to the greater Houston.

Every time I walk into Jane and John Dough Bakery I get this overwhelming sense of community. A place where old and young meet, where children run around in the patio and old friends catch up over coffee. Where the local community is nurtured and empowered – where ingredients are sourced from nearby farms and guests come together through good traditional food served in a big communal table.

Walking in I always get the feeling I want to share the world with everyone. Like Texas is finally inviting this traveler in, and I want to be friends will all the smiling faces in the bakery. I know it sounds kind of creepy – you can rest assured I haven’t harassed anyone yet. But how cool would it be to stomp in, grinning, and strike a conversation with my next chair neighbor? Ok, maybe still creepy. But that’s exactly who I dream myself to be:

At Jane and John’s in all their cozy, small town feel, sharing a cake with a stranger because we met in line and we were both curious about two different flavors. “Oh, I was also in between apple or salted honey. Why don’t we order both and share? I’m Natalia by the way.”

Someday.

And the thing is you kind of have to share. Their cake slices are these jumbo, generous pieces that can comfortably feed FOUR happy eaters. I bought a chocolate espresso slice to go once and it was the highlight of our board game night. I cut the slice into four, decadent, rich, chocolate slices and it was just perfect.

Isn’t it just lovely when a community can help each other out? I just love their involvement in the farmer’s market and how they source their ingredients from local farms. Jane and John Dough Bakery uses farm fresh, pasture-raised eggs from McClure Family Farm and they work their menu around local and seasonal ingredients.

The first time I was there I had lunch with friends. I ordered the soup of the day: onion soup. It was a nice, fat serving of soup with two big slices of whole wheat bread with melted cheese. It was superb. The soup was rich and real and savory. My friends got breakfast sandwiches with sunny side-up goodness. These eggs are laid by free-range hens – which not only means a healthier, more nutritious yolk but also of superior flavor.

After brunch I made a pre-order on a Texas Burbon Pecan pie for Christmas.

My god.

Let me talk about their pie.

Their pie is real, folks. Let me spell that out for the search engines: if you want real pie in Texas, visit Jane and John Dough Bakery.

Their crust is thick and rustic and their filling just tastes like all the sweetness that is good on Earth. Recipe-wise I couldn’t quite put my fingers on what made it so much better than the store bought stuff. I asked Jane if perhaps they used lard for their crust. “No lard, all butta’,” she said. Butter, huh! Duh! Most store-bought stuff reads canola or some other variation of oil, corn-syrup and corn starch…

None of those nonsense pie ingredients fly at Jane and John Dough Bakery. They don’t use artificial sweeteners or preservatives, GMO or high fructose corn syrup. Good ol’ butter from Winnsboro, TX, Mill King milk from pasture-raised cows from McGregor, Brazos Valley salt from Austin and Steen’s 100% Sugarcane syrup out of Louisiana.

Good, local ingredients are truly the heart & flavor of their pies.

When the weather is good, I dream of a stroll around old Town Tomball. Taking some of our lovely Texan sun in and sitting by the patio eating a freshly made pastry. Not that I’d mind Jane’s bowl of soup on a gloomy rainy day. Or any other day.

Yes, I’m obsessed with Jane and John’s.

Peace out.

Be sure to follow Jane & John’s instagram for behind-the-scenes deliciousness and seasonal specials! Follow me for more local reviews (and maybe too many food photos!)

Hi! Thanks for reading! I’m a certified nutritionist exploring the local & sustainable foods scenes in The Woodlands and Houston! Keep in touch and follow me! As of 2017 my sister and I just opened an outdoor dessert café – check it out! I couldn’t be more excited!